Senior Season, Take Two
Forward Bray Skultety entered the 2002-03 season with a great deal of optimism. As a junior in 2001-02, he had emerged as an important frontcourt player for a UCSB team that won its first Big West Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The optimism, however, turned to disappointment when Skultety suffered a season-ending knee injury in preseason practice. But after reams of paperwork, tons of correspondence and some sleepless nights, Skultety and the Gauchos received some very good news as the NCAA awarded him a sixth year of eligibility. Depending on the health of his knee, and all indications are that it is okay, he should be a major factor as a senior, one year later than expected.

A Known Commodity
As a junior in 2001-02, there were few expectations of Skultety. No wonder there were no expectations, he hadn't even played in an organized basketball game in more than six years. Was he injured? No, he just didn't play organized ball. Until he was invited to tryout for the UCSB basketball team just prior to the 2000-01 season, he hadn't even put on a uniform since his freshman year in high school. He spent his first three years at UCSB as a student, not a student-athlete. In 2000-01, he made the team, but never played. As the 2001-02 season evolved, he became an important reserve in the frontcourt and this year, as he returns from last year's knee injury, there are expectations. Despite his size, Skultety has a chance to start at the five spot. He is one of the best athletes and leapers on the team and an exceptional rebounder. Skultety is also the team's best returning shot blocker and at times last season he showed that he could score around the basket.

A Change For The Better
After an ugly 77-70 loss at Loyola Marymount during the 2001-02 season, UCSB head coach Bob Williams decided that he was going to shake things up in the Gaucho lineup. One of the changes included giving Skultety more playing time. In the game that followed UCSB's loss to LMU, the Gauchos played Pepperdine. Entering that game, Skultety had played in just one of the first six games of the year, a three-minute outing against USF. Skultety played 12 minutes against Pepperdine and ultimately he played in the final 25 games of the season, averaging 11.4 minutes per game over that span.

Give Him A Minute He'll Give You A Rebound
Skultety had a major affect on two areas for the 2001-02 Gauchos. Every time he stepped onto the court, he brought with him a great deal of energy and emotion. The other area was more tangible, rebounding. While he ranked ninth on the team in minutes played, Skultety ranked third in rebounding average at 4.4 per game. He averaged one rebound every 2.4 minutes of play and 16.2 per 40 minutes of play. Skultety had five or more rebounds 13 times despite never playing more than 17 minutes in a game. He had a high of ten rebounds on two occasions, once in 15 minutes against Long Beach State and the other time in 17 minutes against UC Riverside.

He Doesn't Shoot Much, But When He Does...
Skultety attempted just 40 shots from the field in 2001-02, but he was 25-of-40, 62.5%. During one ten game span, he made 12-of-14 shots, 85.7%. Additionally, after a slow start from the free throw line, he improved there too. After opening the season by going 3-for-10 from the line, he closed the campaign by making 13 of his final 14 attempts, 92.9%. While he didn't shoot or score much, Skultety narrowly missed a double-double when he went for eight points, on 3-for-3 from the field and 2-for-2 from the line, and ten rebounds in a win over Long Beach State.

Not A One-Hit Wonder
Rebounding is definitely Skulety's forte, but it isn't the only thing he is capable of doing on a basketball court. Last year, Skulety was one of only two UCSB players to record double-digits in blocked shots. Adama Ndiaye led the team with 44 swats in 878 minutes, Skultety was second on the team with 13 in his 283 minutes. While Ndiaye averaged one blocked shot every 19.9 minutes, Skultety averaged one block every 21.7 minutes of play. He blocked more than one three times, including a career-high three in the Gauchos' NCAA Tournament game against Arizona.

2003-04 Post Season UpdateWhile Nick Jones may be the heart and soul of the Gauchos, senior Bray Skultety provides the motivation for UCSB day in and day out. Having received a sixth year of eligibility after tearing his ACL during pre-season practices last year, Skultety returned to the court this season for his final campaign. He earned his keep on the glass where he seemingly pursued each rebound. When we say each rebound, we mean EACH rebound, leading the Gauchos in rebounds pursued with a 97% clip. On February 14, Skultety tore his left ACL for a second time and he was forced to the sideline for the remainder of the season.

Bray Skultety will sidelined for the postseason with a torn left anterior cruciate ligament...Prior to his injury, Skultety was averaging 3.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game...He was one of two Gaucho regulars to average more rebounds than points...Skultety was also chipping in 0.3 assists, steals, and blocks per game...He had connected on 29-of-53 shots on the year, 54.7%, and had hit 16-of-24 free throws, 66.7% ...Skultety scored a career-high nine points in a victory over UC Irvine...In the game against UCI, he went 3-of-6 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the line, while pulling down six rebounds as well...Skultety also scored eight points in a loss to Utah State and seven points in a victory at Cal Poly...He pulled down a season-high nine rebounds two times, once against Cal Poly and once against UC Riverside...Of the nine rebounds against UC Riverside, six came on the offensive end of the floor...Skultety improved his rebounding stats with almost every game this season, moving his rebounds-per-game average from 1.0 after the first game of the season, to 4.0 per game before his injury, while only falling in back two times...He had a four game stint in the middle of the season beginning with a win at UC Irvine and ending with a win at Cal Poly in which he averaged 7.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game...Played an average of 17.3 minutes per game over that stint, five more minutes that his season average of 12.1 per game...Skultety led the Gauchos with a shooting percentage of 54.7%, and through his last 19 games, he had been at 58%...Passed off for a career-high two assists two times this season, in back-to-back games, the first a victory over UC Irvine and the second a loss to Utah State...After going 0-3 combined in the first three games of the season, Skultety made a field goal in all but one game in which he played...Of his 83 total rebounds, 36 came on the offensive end of the floor, 43.3%...Skultety was perfect from the field five times and was perfect from the free throw line five times as well...Rarely stayed out of foul trouble, committing 64 fouls in a total of 254 minutes of play, an average of one foul every 3.9 minutes of play...Fouled out a team-high three times, two of which came in back-to-back games against Alabama State and Kansas.

2002-03 Missed the entire year after suffering a knee injury in a preseason practice.

2001-02After playing sparingly in the first six games, Skultety became a valuable frontcourt reserve for UCSB...Averaged 2.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game...Despite ranking tenth on the team in average minutes per game, his 4.4 rebounds ranked third...Had a pair of ten rebound performances, going for ten in 15 minutes against Long Beach State and ten in 17 minutes against UC Riverside...Amazingly, Skultety had five or more rebounds 13 times in his 26 games although he never played more than 18 minutes in any one game...Scored a career-high eight points against Long Beach State...Added seven points against Idaho...Had five or more points four times...Shot 62.5% for the season...In one ten game span, he made 12-of-14 shots from the floor, 83.3%...After starting the season by making just 6-of-13 free throws, Skultety finished by hitting ten of his final 11, improving to 66.7% by the end of the season...In addition to his rebounding prowess, he also finished second on the team with 13 blocked shots...He blocked a career-high three shots in the NCAA Tournament against Arizona.

2000-01 Was a walk-on for the Gauchos in 2000-01, but did not see any playing time.

High School Skultety attended Orange Glen High School, but did not play basketball after his freshman season...Played football and volleyball at Orange Glen.

Personal Steven Bray Skultety was born on December 27, 1979, in La Jolla, CA...Majoring in Anthropology...Would also like to minor in Linguistics...Graduated 14th in his class at Orange Glen High School...Was a member of the National Honor Society and the California Scholarship Federation... Attended UCSB for two years before he was asked to walk-on to the basketball team...The son of Mark and Laurie Skultety.